Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Redemption?

Round, close-set eyes, long face, upturned nose, beatific grin... No matter how hard one tries to banish the thought, when you see Jake Gyllenhaal, you can’t stop the image of Woody from Toy Story popping into your head. Maybe that’s why he got cast in Brokeback Mountain; perhaps Heath Ledger reminded the producers of Buzz. Today, though, the picture is somewhat skewed, because Gyllenhaal’s youthful looks are obscured by an added cartoonish adornment — a beard of such pirate-captain volume and lustre, you suspect there’s a band around his head, holding it in place.

We are used to black-clad ­Hollywood bucks disfiguring themselves in the name of art, as if handsomeness precludes integrity, so this is nothing out of the ordinary. The face rug is, however, for a part; he’s appearing in If There Is I Haven’t Found It Yet at the Laura Pels Theatre, in New York.

Lampooning Gyllenhaal — with a soft “g” — is a bit mean. He is, it turns out, a most excellent and genial fellow. Generous, too, breaking bread in a downtown Manhattan hotel, late in the afternoon, when he really ought to be limbering up backstage for tonight’s show. “I happen to like not starting my engine until very soon before,” he says. “It makes it a little more exciting for me.”

So why the comeback? “It was a questioning of what I want to do with my work and my life, and if I felt fulfilled,” he says. “I think it may have been turning 30. I’d made a promise to myself that I would really only pursue my artistic instincts, no matter where it took me, and I kind of broke that promise.”

There is a contrivance, in that the film is supp­osedly viewed through Gyllenhaal’s omnipresent digicam: “YouTube meets Training Day,” as Ayer put it. Key to the exercise, Gyllenhaal says, was realism. He spent five months on night-time ride-alongs with the LAPD, cruising the ’hoods seen in the movie. Whenever an actor makes such a claim, I say, one can’t help but think of the film The Hard Way, in which, for the purposes of filmic research, a pampered movie star (played by Michael J Fox) is foisted on an abusive hard-boiled detective (James Woods). “So do I,” he chuckles. “And, by the way, don’t think we didn’t get all that shit while doing it for real. The very first ride-along, we were the second call on a shooting, a murder. Guy bled out right in front of me.”

Gyllenhaal runs through the highlights, picking out Donnie Darko, the Sundance hit The Good Girl (as Jennifer Aniston’s toy boy) and Jarhead as particular favourites. “And obviously Brokeback Mountain [his Oscar-nominated, Bafta-winning turn as the gay cowpoke Jack Twist], not just for the process, which was incredibly special, but for the result that came out of it. I’m so grateful to that movie for everything.” One might add David Fincher’s serial-killer docudrama, Zodiac, or Love & Other Drugs, opposite Anne Hathaway, with Gyllenhaal as a Viagra-touting pharmaceutical salesman.

You know your most underrated performance, I say. “No?” Bear Grylls: Man vs Wild — a corking episode in which Gyllenhaal and the survival expert are dropped on a glacier in Iceland, then yomp across volcanoes, swim icy waters and try to eat a rotting sheep. He laughs. “That was fun. That was the start of all this crazy stuff, going on the streets with cops after going with Bear. I thought, ‘Yeah, this sounds dan­gerous. Let’s do it.’”

One thing Gyllenhaal’s new direction won’t include is the screen version of Fifty Shades of Grey. Stories have spread across the internet linking him to the part of the priapic Christian Grey, something based on the casual comments of the book’s author, EL James. “Literally, I know nothing about that.”

Currently, he has a more pressing engagement, with a theatre audience. He’s cutting it fine and still has the rush-hour traffic to contend with. You know what, he says, family business or not, acting would still have been his vocation. “Because, at times, there is nothing that brings me more joy than being up on the stage or being in a movie, watching an actor give an extra­ordinary performance across from me. That gives my soul joy. And I know it sounds like a total cliché, and it is, and in print it sure will be, but it does.”

66 comments:

From a Playbill interview with Dan Stevens , one of the stars of Donwton Abbey:

Have you been able to see other theatre around town during rehearsals or on nights when The Heiress is dark?

DS: Not too much, no. I was very lucky to be able to see Jake Gyllenhaal in If There Is I Haven't Found It Yet, which was directed by a friend of mine, Michael Longhurst. It was a fantastic production. I hope to see more shows on our off nights. I'm desperate to see The Book of Mormon, and I've heard good things about Grace.

There wasn't too much on the net about the performance Jake participated in Sunday night for Arts in the Armed Forces. Just this:

Just returned home after an impressive staged reading event to benefit veterans and their families. Even got to know some artistically inclined veterans active in theater, film and photography. Congrats to aitaf.org for putting this on, and netting some great talent (Frances McDormand, Michael Shannon, Jake Gyllenhaal, Eisa Davis and David Strathairn, to name a few!)

Not sure if people saw this, from the FB page of one of The Chew hosts. Some pretty funny comments. Here's what Clinton Kelly wrote:

Jake Gyllenhaal was on The Chew a couple of weeks ago. Awesome guy. A real class act. With his beard, he reminded me of someone and I couldn't for the life of me figure out who it was. Then, it hit me! Young Santa from "Santa Claus is Coming to Town." Cute!

Also, Jake is apparently on the cover of Italian Vanity Fair. The photos aren't new but the interview is. A bad google translation:

The interview you are about to read took place in two stages and in two places. The first time we meet Jake Gyllenhaal is in Toronto, where during the Festival presented his latest film, End Of Watch. It was September 10. The second is on 8 November in New York, where he is on stage with If There Is I Have not Found It Yet by Nick Payne.

End Of Watch, which comes out on November 22 in Italy, is a film about Los Angeles police shot like a YouTube video (most scenes were shot from a micro camera worn by Gyllenhaal) and inspired by true stories. Stories of friendship and trust pushed to the extreme. To the point - as he told the director David Ayer - to kill the former partner was invalid and take care of his family.

He thought about what she would do in a similar situation? "I do not know what to say. I'm not a cop, I've never been in a similar situation and I have no children. But I have friends who have asked me if I would be willing, in case something happens to them, to take responsibility for their children, and of course the answer was yes."

How important to you is friendship? "For many officers the person in the seat next represents half of what they love their work. Having a relationship is important, but friends, perhaps, even more so. I am a mirror in which to reflect, a bank, they give you an outside perspective, more objective. During the training, I met a couple of agents that since I consider among my closest friends. " (...)

What else have you done to get in the way? "Two, three days a week we went out with the police on patrol, from 4 pm to 4 am. And when I went out with the agents, watching them work. I have witnessed domestic violence, quarrels between neighbors, I participated in pursuits of stolen cars. I grew up in Los Angeles, it was interesting to discover a whole new side of a city I thought I knew. "

I think the following excerpt from the "The Sunday Times" article is quite interesting: "I think where I feel most comfortable is being able to really collaborate, and where the risks taken are emotional", he says. "I don't really think the size of the movie is the thing that matters to me, although I think it's more possible in independent film." Which has probably left him - and us - with a far more worthy back catalogue.

An Affair To Remember came to life tonight when Jake Gyllenhaal was 6 inches away from my face and I all I could say was hello.

Just saw @GyllenhaalJake on If there is I haven't found it yet off broadway! Amazing!

From someone who was at the talkback performance:

I enjoyed If There Is, I Haven't Found It Yet. Better than I thought it would be. Not a GREAT play but good prod. that made it better.

Jake Gyllenhaal (and the entire cast) did the talkback! And always do! Very impressed w/ his answers and IMPRESSED w/ his performance.

Audience warned for talkiback to ask questions only. Another old lady: "I didn't understand the accents. You should rethink that". End.

Another worst: lady walked right in front of Jake Gyllenhaal during talkback, oblivious to world,mad at person in wheelchair in her way.WTF?/Or the lady who was late, but then made a loud fuss about her aisle seat while show was already in progress? WTF OLD LADY?/The old lady crinkling plastic non-stop had to be shushed a few times, then told by usher twice before she stopped. I wanted to throttle her

loved him in it. Tho from a woman in aud during talkback who saw it early in run too, said cast was WAY better and tighter now.

I'll still just probably refer to it as the Jake Gyllenhaal play. especially since he was awesome./that's what I've been referring to it as! And it really was. he was FANTASTIC.

LOL about the oldsters, especially the accent one! Wish we got more details on the talkback questions.

These are old and I can't remember if they were posted, but made me smile:

Mr. Gyllenhaal is sexy enough on his own. Adding a British accent to the situation was simply unfair. #ijustdied

IF THERE IS... didn't get a lot of critical love, but i found it kind of remarkable. jake is so talented and so beautiful and so sweet.

Hagen, I thought that was interesting, as well. But I think Jake should avoid making such sweeping statements. Every movie doesn't have to be a huge labor of love and devotion. It's okay to do a one-off, lighter fare.

Not that he shouldn't try to do an equally good job. But balance is the key.

Also, I wish someone would just ask him straight up about PoP. I may have said that before. :)

Glad people are still enjoying the stage door photos. I can't get enough of them!

Even though Hugh Jackman is still filming The Wolverine in Sydney and Jake Gyllenhaal’s latest gig on Broadway doesn’t end until next month, their next project, Prisoners, is already gearing up to begin production in Atlanta.

According to a recent post on Georgia,org, the feature film, which also stars Paul Dano, Maria Bello, and Melissa Leo, is now accepting crew resumes for all positions. The movie is expected to begin filming in January.

Prisoners is also expected to shoot in Pennsylvania and Connecticut next year.

I read something last year,not sure how true it is, that there's some expectation on the part of the People magazine folk that the Chosen One has to make some commitment to the talk show circuit and do promotion, etc. and other stuff. Kind of like Miss America. There was speculation last years they offered it to Ryan Gosling, who turned it down, so Bradley Cooper was their second choice. Don't know how true it is, but it makes me wonder if Jake ever turned it down. I don't think he would, but who knows. All I can say is that the SMA is not what it used to be.

A favorite memory is the year EW came out with their nude cover of Jake & Ann to coincide almost exactly with People's announcement of Ryan Reynolds. Letterman had some fun with it.

"There was speculation last years they offered it to Ryan Gosling, who turned it down, so Bradley Cooper was their second choice"

I do not that believe that, yes its abou whose PR group is better but I do not believe for one moment Gosling turned it down. I hardly saw Brad Cooper doing any talk show interviews or Johnny Depp for that matter. That was just a spin put out by Gosling's people to get him more PR and it worked. Gosling has been trying really hard in the last couple of years to be the "IT" boy and I doubt very much if it turned that down. That was Lainey's gossip.

@ UltraViolet. But I’m kind of using this name! I’ve been posting under “Also an Anon” for a while now but I guess I can just shorten it to AAA if the name is causing confusion. I don’t like signing up with official names, passwords etc. on blogs. It just feels like too much commitment somehow! I like when you’re able to just drop by and leave a random comment if and when you feel like it (but I’ll make sure to always use the same name here).

Regarding EOW: I really did enjoy it – although I kind of felt as if I’d watched it already due to all the trailers, interviews etc. but it was still nice to see it all presented in the right order! Acting by the main cast was superb, the supporting actors less so. I thought the cartel storyline and its actors were a little underdeveloped and unconvincing – it always reminded me that I was watching a movie and actors acting, whereas all scenes involving the police officers were believable and touching. The shaky filming and changing POWs didn’t bother me at all (and I actually expected that to be my main issue) but rather, it made me feel as a part of the action. Overall, I thought it was a good, solid movie and performances. It was entertaining and moving but somewhat forgettable - not Academy Award worthy IMO (but obviously I’ll still cross my fingers!), but certainly not a disappointment either. I wouldn’t demand my money back! I’ll definitely buy the DVD for my Jake collection. Thanks again for the link ☺

Hi, Triple A! I didn't realize that was your name. I do remember seeing that moniker, but I didn't realize it was all the same person. Now I know. Thanks for explaining and delurking a bit. I know some people like to observe more than report; that's cool :)

Glad you enjoyed the movie. I have had the same feeling with other Jake movies - that I had already seen it from so many clips, etc. I managed to avoid that this time, which was sort of nice.

I agree on the gangster side of things. Some of the actors were really good, some not so good. But MP and Jake were just great together.

It's been fun to read overseas reactions, one of the benefits of EoW not opening everywhere at the same time.

Someone said that the DVD will be out next month. Not sure if that's true, but it would be a nice Christmas present. Especially if it's stuffed with lots of extras.

Okay, so I am trying desperately not to make this about me having seen/known a bunch of celebs since I am now discovering how simultaneously braggy AND pathetic that sounds. That said, I have seen and known a veritable lot of them! It's 102% as good as being one. Examples: I went to high school with Jason Segel, the Gyllenhaals, and this lady. Also, Jessica Alba's husband was my first boyfriend (6th grade), and Simon Cowell helped me write my haftorah portion (no)! ...

Okay, pleeeeeeease give us more deets on Mr. Cash Warlen. We're dying to hear details about Cash Warbens. Or just tell us about the Gyllenhaals. Jake's a terrible athlete, right? No way he knows how to throw a football. Please tell me he's a terrible athlete. Dude's so good-looking.

SARA CIRCS: I was in love with Jake from the moment I saw him on his first day of 7th grade (my first day of 8th). He was so cute, so funny and so obnoxious. I once heard him say, laughing, to a table full of attractive girls, "You can tell by my voice that I have a small dick, right?" WHO IS THAT CONFIDENT IN THE 7TH GRADE? Jesus, it still makes me angry.

When I was in the 10th grade, I penned a handwritten, multiple-paged letter to Jake explaining that I really really really liked and possibly loved him. I sent it to him via the US Postal Service. The coward never wrote me back, and it made me hate/love him all the more. Finally, after about a year of silence between us, we found ourselves in a hallway together and he couldn't avoid me. He said, "Hey, um, I was wondering if maybe we could talk some time." I TOTALLY legit acted like I had no idea what this could possibly be about and I was like, "Uh, yeah, sure, whatevs." We never did have that talk, but the silence between us was broken and from then on he felt comfortable making fart noises in front of me during play rehearsals and stuff. That's how I knew he really respected me for what I had done.

Years later, I was a teacher for a couple of years at our former high school and he was already famous. He visited the school one day, and some of my students saw me saying hi to him. In class later they were all, "OMG you were friends with Jake Gyllenhaal??!?! Did you hook up with him??" And I was like, "I'm not going to discuss this with my students," but I let the twinkle in my eye tell them I did. But I didn't! Also, how inappropriate for a high school teacher, right?

I think Jake was an okay athlete. My husband did AYSO with him as a kid - here's what he had to say when I asked him: "No, if I recall he was actually pretty coordinated / good. But, that is an unreliable memory. That being said, if he had been terrible I probably would have remembered." Sorry, Ev. He was "probably not terrible."

Re: Cash: nothing that interesting to say. Here is a photo of the scarf he made for me on his summer vacay in France, circa 1990. He later dumped me (almost certainly as a direct result of my dorky hat-wearing phase).

My dad just met Jake Gyllenhaal and made a Taylor swift joke to him oh my god pic.twitter.com/p8aFfn92Jake Gyllenhaal doesn't have a twitter but if he did I would ask him why he was sassy to my dad at the salad restaurant today #askjake

I TOTALLY legit acted like I had no idea what this could possibly be about and I was like, "Uh, yeah, sure, whatevs." We never did have that talk, but the silence between us was broken and from then on he felt comfortable making fart noises in front of me during play rehearsals and stuff. That's how I knew he really respected me for what I had done.

Nice Jake article in the LA Times - trying to get it in a new post. He's in the Oscars Contenders section, so the push is on. And he's in the Short List in the UK. They had a great previous interview with him. Hope this one is as good.

And wow - a release date for An Enemy. I was afraid they didn't even have a US distributor.

I'm thinking that date will change, though. AN Enemy is not exactly a summer blockbuster. Thanks, Hagen.

Also, Hagen, Jake is apparently in German Glamour. And he's in Italian Vanity Fair. Paging all Jake linguists :)

I liked the LA Times article. Wish he'd stop saying what he does is "absurd." I know he really values his work, and respects it. Maybe he's just put the whole "celebrity" thing, and the ego-tripping in perspective. It's not curing Cancer, but it is making art and that's important, too.

That aside it's a decent movie with some superb performances from the two leads. Gyllenhaal and Pena at the top of their game with the mix of violence and comic moments, friendship and love, the job and home life; I've read calls for Oscar nominations for both of them but the major problem would be who's supporting whom? Both actors are just as important to each others performance as the characters are to each other as friends and partners. The two cannot be separated, perhaps a joint Oscar nomination?

The relationship between Gyllenhaal and Pena is wonderful and must have been worked on for a great deal of time in pre-production but the seemingly natural chemistry with Kendrick is the kind of thing film makers usually only dream of capturing. We are not treated to movie stars playing a young in love couple, the kind of performances you usually find in movies, you find yourself taken beyond the fact that it's Jake Gyllenhaal and Anna Kendrick to a place where the simple beauty of discovering that you can't live without another person is the only aspect of the story you are experiencing at that particular moment. And a dance scene that would put Travolta and Thurman to shame.

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Jake Gyllenhaal

Jake is the kind of guy who can do a spot-on impression of someone you work with. He plays guitar and has a great voice. Kids and dogs love him. He loves his mom and sister and girlfriend. He's perfect. Too bad he's ugly. ~ Natalie Portman